2018-05-2[78] Smoked until around 185 degrees (with pork shoulder) (about 7 hours). Pulled pork off grill at this time, then left the brisket on the pit with a dieing fire. then pulled the brisket off the pit an hour and a half later or so, and left in oven overnight (oven off) in an aluminum roasting pan. Smelled great, and bark was dark and black all over. Cooked with thicker end under smokestack so I could get the pork on too. May have been a mistake. Pork was closest to the firebox. started oven at 225 degrees at 9am. Raised temp to 275 at ~1:30pm. 2:50pm alarm went off at 201 degrees. Opened oven for 10-15 minutes. felt cool. Meat temp risen to 204. Closed oven door. left brisket in aluminum baking pan (throwaway), uncovered and unwrapped. trying to see if simple oven replicates ice chest/blanket. This worked well. Moist brisket was hard to cut as always, but lean was perfect. Should replicate this method. Smoke ring was nice. More smoke probably better. Wonder about seperating the top cap from the bottom, and placing a grill rack above so the fat can drip, and both parts can get the smoke ring. Probably worth a shot... Yeah it's easy. Cut all the fat off of it except for about a 1/4 to 1/8 inch. Make sure all the hard fat is gone. If you buy a trimmed brisket no need to trim it. Rub olive oil on the entire brisket. Heavily salt entire brisket with kosher salt. Don't forget the sides. Heavily pepper entire brisket with coarse ground pepper. Let the brisket sit there until all the salt is dissolved into the meat. I do it over night but it should be good after 2 or 3 hours. Heat your smoker on indirect heat to 225 to 275. Put brisket on opposite side of the heat fat side up and biggest side towards the heat. Put a temp gauge in biggest part of the brisket. Add wood to charcoal often. Once the brisket reaches 165 to 170 take it off and wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil. Your brisket will stall somewhere around 140 to 160. This is normal and it will last for 2 to 5 hours. But don't worry it will come up. Try to wrap the foil around the temp gauge with no leaks. Put back on the grill and cook until the temp hits 203. You can bring your pit upto 275 degrees and keep it there. Once it hits 203 take it off the grill and wrap it in a moving blanket or something thick and put it in an ice chest for 2 to 4 hours. After that open up and eat. Only slice what you eating and every piece will be moist. What ever you do, don't buy a select grade cut. Get a choice or prime cut. And trust me on cutting the fat off I get the heb choice cut trimmed briskets a lot. Ask the butcher if none are on display. They always have them in the back, but if you want prime you have to go to moodys. Good luck. I'm working nights so let me know if you have any questions I'll be up till about 7am My 14 pounders usually take about 15 hours. The kosher salt and course ground pepper are the only ingredients. But I'm telling you regular salt and pepper doesn't work very good. And just keep in mind that the meat temp is more important than the fire temp with my way of cooking brisket. Good luck. --james-- Damn I bought untrimmed. I really like fatty top brisket cap. --james-- You can leave more fat if you want. It will still cook the same. You will just have a lot of fat when you are cutting it. And you won't get a smoke ring on the fatty side. Upto you. --james-- What does the ice chest and blanket do? I'm not questioning the results, I've tasted it. Just the why. You ever try without that step and letting it rest in foil for a while? --james-- That's where the brisket rest. It's the most important part to make it tender and moist. I wouldn't skip it if I were you --james-- Resting meat is key on all beef or pork. What I've been reading is 30 min in al foil is just as good; but putting it in the ice chest let's you get it done ahead of time and still serve hot juicy brisket. I think I may try a variation and see how it goes. I think the Temps of the meat are probably the key. I got cheap brisket too. It was a buck 65 a pound untrimmed. Bought a 20 dollar brisket. If it turns out good, we can save money lol! --james-- I used to think the resting time didn't matter but the last time I did 30 minutes it wasn't near as good. I think 2 hours is the minimum. You can use cheap meat but if I'm spending that much time cooking something. I want to make sure. You know what I mean. --james-- I'm not planning on wrapping since I didn't trim it. Whenever I do that with an untrimmed they fall apart. ASIDE: based on pictures it looked like I did put foil around it when I put it in the oven Not sure how you do this all night. May smoke a couple more hours and put it in the oven to finish. I'm having to add charcoal every hour. Don't know if I can cat nap and not ruin it. --james-- I usually get the temp up to 300 and take a 3 hour nap. Then do it again if I'm still tired The reason you wrap is for moisture. The fat won't keep it from drying out or burning. The fat won't mix in with the meat the entire cook. But if you have the color on the brisket you want then just wrap it and stick it in the oven at 203 degrees. Then when you get up just check the meat temp and cook longer or let it rest --james-- Hmm. Good thoughts. Maybe I'll wrap it in a bit after some more fat renders off. --james-- Just make sure if you put it in the oven you put it in something large enough to hold all the juice that leaks out. Or you will have a very unhappy wife or a fire --james-- 4 hours, 166 degrees. Looking good. ASIDE: Went to sleep, finished in the oven It takes a long time to go from 199 to 203. Thanks for the advice. Got it in the cooler now. Taste is good, but it fell apart --james--